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Wednesday, September 30, 2009

I wanted to post something about last night's game during my lunch today but work was pretty busy and I didn't have the time. Since tonight's game is a little less than 2 hours from now, I don't want to write a full post. Here are some really quick little notes:

A.J. Burnet looked really good.

Phil Coke looked really bad. He's lucky they came back.

Kyle Farnsworth looked worse than Phil Coke.

Juan Miranda looked like he enjoyed his pie.

Walkoffs never get old. I'm glad to see the team still get fired up about winning what's technically a meaningless game.

Tuesday, September 29, 2009

I caught about 3 innings of the game last night. The 2 hour rain delay put a hurting on my ability to watch it. So I don't have much to report on it. I'm very pleased with the result. Our B-team put a whomping on the Royals for win #101. Nice.

It was cool to see that Ramiro Pena hit his 1st big league HR. That ball's a keeper. I hope he got it back.

Big day for Cano with a grand salami. He's up to 84 RBI. There's probably not enough time left for him to reach 90.

Looks like Chad Gaudin had a pretty good outing. The Yanks are 6-0 when Gaudin starts. That'll keep you on the roster. As will the 3.54 ERA he's sporting. He very easily could take Joba's spot in the postseason rotation. That may not be a bad idea anyway. If Gaudin starts and falters, bring in Joba. If Gaudin does well, Joba can be used at the back end of the bullpen with Hughes and Mariano. I'm not saying I want Joba back in the bullpen. I'm saying that Gaudin might be a better option for the playoffs. It might not be a bad idea. Maybe then we'll see Joba pump out the 98-100mph heat that we haven't really seen this year. A lot could ride on their last starts.

The team goes for win #102 tonight. A.J. Burnett and the A-lineup versus Anthony Lerew. I'm not sure what to expect from Burnett. His father had triple-bypass surgery so his head might not be 100% with the team, which is understandable. Then again, situations like A.J.'s often come with something magical so his final home start might be something special. Have to tune in to find out.

Monday, September 28, 2009

An anonymous reader, possibly my friend Don, left a comment earlier about a travesty that happened in my old stomping grounds, Syracuse, NY. A 4th grader in Baldwinsville, NY was told by his teacher, a Red Sox fan, to turn his Yankee shirt inside-out. Are you kidding me? Unreal.

I can't believe anybody in a position of authority, let alone someone in charge of a 9 year old, would ever tell someone that they can't wear a shirt of a sports team. Talk about being anti-American. Way to step on a 9-year old's first ammendment rights. I get that people dislike the Yankees. I get that some Red Sox fans, like some Yankee fans, are absolute morons. But come on now. This is the lowest of the low. Bullying a 9-year old because he's wearing a Yankee shirt. I hope you feel good about yourself Peter Addabbo. You are a grade-A douchebag.

The poor kid, Nathan Johns, was made fun of by some older kids for wearing his shirt inside out. The article quotes Nathan as saying, “It was such a horrible day. I don’t ever want anything like to happen again.” Man, what a douche.

The article also quotes Nate saying, “Just because my teacher doesn’t like the Yankees I should still have the right to wear a Yankees shirt." You're darn right you do. Nate also said that the teacher has Boston Red Sox paraphernalia all over the classroom on display. What a douche.

If you couldn't tell, I think that the teacher is a huge douche. I hope he feels good about himself. And congrats Sox fans, he's one of yours. Picking on a 9-year old for wearing a CC Sabathia t-shirt. Big man you are there Peter Addabbo. I hope you get what's coming to you.

Sunday, September 27, 2009

Start spreading the news. The New York Yankees are the 2009 AL East champions. The New York Yankees clinched home field advantage throughout the playoffs. The New York Yankees will be the only team this year to reach 100 wins. The New York Yankees are the best team in baseball. Deal with it.

Today's victory versus the Red Sox was great on so many levels. Division clinched. HFA clinched. 100 wins. Red Sox swept. Celebrating in from of the Red Sox. After losing the first 8 games to Boston the Yanks came back to split the season series. Get the picture? It was a great day for the Yankees. It was a great day for Yankee fans.

I'm actually watching the replay of the game right now on ESPN. Phil Coke is about to whiff David Ortiz to finish off the 8th inning. I should be getting ready for bed but I think I'm going to stay up and relive today's highs all over again. The game today was great, wasn't it? Andy Pettitte had a rough start but settled down and pitched a pretty good game. Andy has been awesome this year. I'll admit it. I wasn't a big fan of Andy returning to the Yankees this year. (Teixeira just hit a Yankee Stadium special on the replay. Suck on it John Henry). Those feelings about Andy had more to do with how much money he wanted over anything else. I'm so glad he came back though. He's been great this year. He's always been a better pitcher in the 2nd half and this year, unlike last, isn't an exception. In his last 11 starts, Andy is 6-1 and the team is 8-3 in his starts. I think we can all forget about Andy have arm/shoulder issues. His last 2 starts were really no different than his first 29. He'll be primed and ready to pitch this postseason. There was a lot of talk on the ESPN broadcast today about how the Yankees should set up their rotation in the ALDS. They liked Burnett starting game 2. I like Andy. If the ALDS happens to go 5 games, the Yankees would likely bring back their game 2 starter to start the game. I want the 2nd best pitcher the team has starting that ball game. Right now, that pitcher is Andy Pettitte. CC in game 1. Andy in game 2. A.J. in game 3. That's how I do it. What say you?

Another great job by the bullpen again. Brian Bruney really surprised me. He took on the meat of the Red Sox lineup and sent them down in order. he looked a lot like the Brian Bruney from earlier in the season. Bruney lost his way for a while. I hope he's back on the right path. Phil Coke also looks to be his old self. Coke has not given up a hit in his last 9 outings, a span of 5 innings. His ERA has dropped from 5.13 to 4.68 in that time frame. The Yankee bullpen is awesome. 'Nuff said. And the man at the back end of that bullpen is the most awesome of all. I wouldn't be worried about his last 2 outings. Mo's outings were a little shaky but were they really? I don't think so. The tying run would have never reached base today had Robbie Cano not tried to make some impossible play at 2nd. That was an easy out at first. Robbie should have been smart enough to know that. He got Kotchman on a weak grounder and Ellsbury on a comebacker. Ironically enough, that comebacker just happened on the replay. The division is ours baby. I'm smiling from ear-to-ear. Awesome. Totally awesome. Way to go guys. Back to Rivera, if you're worried about him, don't be. He's the GOAT. October is Mo-time!

Congrats to Robbie Cano for picking up his 200th hit. Cano, in my opinion is a special player. I can't believe some Yankee fans were giving up on him after last season. Last season was a rough one for Robbie. The big difference this year is that his head seems to be in the right place. He doesn't come off as lazy anymore. Not to me anyway. I'm a big Cano fan. I think he's going to have a great career. I wouldn't be surprised if he makes a run at the HOF. I know it's early but the talent is there. As long as Robbie stays focused, he'll do great things.

Mark Teixeira's 8th inning HR, a cheapie in my opinion, gives him 38 on the season, 1 shy of league leader Carlos Pena. If Teixeira can connect for 1 more HR, he might finish the year with the most HRs and the most RBI, better known as 2/3 of the triple crown. Mark has been bringing it lately. He's got the average up to .294, which is 15 points higher than it was 3 weeks ago (.279 on 9/6). Teix could make a run at .300. I don't think he'll make it but he could pull it off. Honestly, I wouldn't be surprised. Guess what guys? Texieira is a Yankee for another 7 years. I know. Awesome, right? And I didn't even mention his Gold Glove defense. Suck it John Henry. For those who forgot or didn't know, after the Red Sox won their 8th straight game against the Yankees, John Henry, owner of the Red Sox, tweeted, "The MT curse?" The MT stood for Mark Teixeira. Since that tweet, the Yankees won 9 of 10 from the Red Sox. This bears repeating: Suck it John Henry. What a douche.

A common thing I heard on the postgame show was there is still more business to attend to. The rest of the regular season may be meaningless but there is a lot of important baseball ahead. The team needs to stay focused over the next 7 days. They need to remember that all of this means nothing if they punk out in the postseason. I'm sure Joe Girardi is going to be resting a lot of the regulars over the next week and I don't have a problem with that. These guys should be very well rested when the ALDS starts. I love October. It is without question my most favorite time of the year. I can't wait for the postseason to start.

Saturday, September 26, 2009

Today's Yankees/Red Sox game was pretty exciting. It shouldn't have been though. The Yankees should have blown the Sox away. Dice-K somehow pitched his way out of trouble in what seemed like every inning. The Yankees had many opportunities to score but they just never got it done. I tweeted during the game that it seemed like the Yankees weren't meant to win today. It just seemed like it was going to be one of those games where nothing went right. But in the end, everything went right. Thanks to one Carsten Charles Sabathia.

CC pitched an absolute great game today. If anyone doubted whether or not he's worth the money that the Yankees are paying him, this should erase those doubts. 7 innings of 1 hit ball against the 2nd best team in all of baseball. That's clutch. He absolutely dominated today. It would have been a shame had he not gotten the win.

Check out these numbers from CC's last 11 starts: 9-0, 79.1 IP, 56 hits, 19 walks, 85 K, 18 ER, 2.04 ERA and a WHIP of 0.95. That's awesome right there. But it gets even better. The big man has made 5 starts in September. His line: 4-0, 35 IP, 20 hits, 13 walks, 36 K, 5 ER, 1.29 ERA and a WHIP of 0.94. He's been AMAZING down the stretch. I have only one question to ask: Where's Johan? I think one of the best moves the Yankees made was not trading for Johan Santana. Johan means no CC. Johan means no Phil Hughes. Johan probably means no AL East title. Johan is good, but he's no CC. I'll take CC over Johan every day of the week, month, year, whatever. CC has to get some love for the Cy Young award. I know Zack Greinke is having a great year but the voters better not sleep on CC. I think if CC finishes with 20 wins, he walks away with it, especially if he dominates in win #20. CC really needs to carry this over into the postseason. Otherwise, this all means nothing.

I absolutely love the back end of the Yankee bullpen. If Phil Hughes gets the ball with the lead the game is pretty much over. Hughes has made 41 relief appearances. The Yankees record in those 41 games is 34-7. 4 of those 7 losses came in Hughes first 6 games as a reliever. I think he became the 8th inning guy on July 3rd. He's pitched in 33 games since 7/3 and the team is 27-3 in those games. Unbelievable. Phil's #s in those 33 games: 36.2 IP, 23 hits, 10 walks, 46 K, 5 ER, 1.23 ERA and a WHIP of 0.90. Those are remarkable numbers. His strikeout rate is amazing. 11.29 Ks per 9 innings. Like I said, if the ball gets to Hughes, game over.

The win today pretty much wraps up the division and home field advantage. The magic # to clinch the AL East is 1, which means they can do no worse than tie, and that would mean they'd be the wild card. Not good enough. Thankfully the Yankees have 7 games left. They only way they lose the division is if they go 0-7 and the Red Sox go 8-0. Good luck with that happening. No chance lance. It's over. The magic # to clinch HFA from the Angels is also 1 and that could drop to zero if the Angels lose tonight. That's also a formality. See the scenario I outlined above. The Yanks aren't going to lose out. It would be ideal for the Yanks to win tomorrow and celebrate both the division and HFA in front of the Red Sox. If you get a chance to rub the Red Sox' noses in it, you take it. I really hope they take care of it tomorrow. A win tomorrow would also mean the two teams would have split the season series with 9 wins a-piece. That in itself is unreal considering the Sox won the first 8. Suck on that Sox fans.

Put plastic over the lockers and put the bubbly on ice. Tomorrow could be a very fun day.

Friday, September 25, 2009

If you read my last entry then you know I didn't get to see any of tonight's Yankees/Sox game because it was on My9. And if you've read the blog long enough, you know that the Yankee games on My9 are not carried her in the Buffalo area if you have Direct TV or Verizon Fios. That didn't stop me from following along online. As you can expect it's not the same. It sucks. Thankfully this was the last My9 game of the season. So from here on out, I won't miss a game, unless of course life gets in the way, which it often does.

If you read my last entry then you know I thought the Red Sox were going to win tonight's game. I didn't trust Joba to show up and I thought Jon Lester was going to pitch pretty well. Thankfully, I was wrong on both counts. As John Sterling likes to say, "You just can't predict baseball." It looks like Joba had a pretty decent night. I'm watching the YES post-game show and the consensus is that it was a good outing for Joba. Bob Lorentz made a good point that I agree with 100%. Joba needs to back it up with a good outing in his final start. I don 't think Joba's problems are necessarily over. He needs to do a little more before I trust him. As David Cone mentioned on the post-game show, it was a step in the right direction.

I'm surprised how well the Yankees fared against Lester. It looks like they hit him pretty hard, tagging him for 5 runs on 8 hits and 3 walks in only 2.1 innings. Nice. Very nice. Everyone talks about how great the Red Sox bullpen is. Wasn't so great tonight now was it? Big nights at the plate for A-Rod and Teixeira. It looks like Alex had a monster night. 3 for 3! 4 RBI! 3 stolen bases! That's huge! I saw the highlight of the bomb he hit off Lester. That was pretty sweet. My favorite stat of the night is without a doubt the 7 stolen bases. Somebody read the scouting report on Jason Varitek's arm. Teams can run on the Sox. The Yankees wisely ran all over the place.

As I sit here and read the box score, I'm wondering how the Yankees only scored 9 runs? It looks like they could have scored a lot more. 14 hits + 9 walks + 7 stolen bases +1 GIDP should equal more than 9 runs, right? The team went 7 for 21 with RISP which is pretty good. 6 guys had multi-hit game, which is great. But how did they only manage 9 runs? Anybody?

The win drops the Yankees' magic # to clinch the AL East to 3. With 8 games to go, the Yankees are 6 up on the Sox in the loss column. It's pretty much over. It'll be official if the Yanks win these next two. I really want to see them clinch against Boston. What Yankee fan wouldn't want to see that? A win tomorrow would drop the magic # down to 1, which is really meaningless because if the Yankees finish tied with the Red Sox, they'll lose the division and end up as the wild card. No need in getting excited about clinching a tie. It would though pretty much end the Red Sox chances of winning the division if the Yankees win 1 of these next 2 games. There's no way the Yankees finish the season with 6 or 7 straight losses while the Sox finish with 7 or 8 straight wins. No chance. Clinching would pretty much be a formality. Some might say that now. Me? I'll wait for a 1 more win. CC goes tomorrow so hopefully I won't be waiting long. I'm not a patient guy.

The series with the Red Sox kicks off tonight. It's a pretty big series. The Yankees could end up clinching the division or they could end up letting Boston right back into it.

A sweep by the Yankees and it's over. If the Yanks take two of 3, they can do no worse than tie for the division and that would only happen if the Yankees were to go 0-6 in their last 6 games while Boston went 7-0. That won't happen. So if the Yanks take 2 of 3, it's over. You can put it on the board.

If the Sox take 2 of 3, it would still take a lot for the Yanks to blow a 4.5 game lead with 6 to play. I don't see that happening. If they Yankees get swept, then things would get a little interesting.

A sweep by the Sox would mean the Yanks lead would be down to 2.5 with 6 to go. I still think they'd end up winning the East but it could turn into quite the battle. If the two teams end up tied at the end of the year, the East will go to the Soxbecause they'll have won the season series.

So in my eyes, the Yanks need to at leat win 1 of these next 3 games. I think that they will. Tonight's game pits Joba versus Jon Lester. This has to heavily favor the Sox. Lester is a great pitcher and Joba is well, not a great pitcher. The potential is there but the results aren't. Joba has done well against the Sox in the past so I wouldn't be surprised if he brings it tonight, but I don't see it happening. I'll be happily surprised if he pitches well. Joba should treat this as a playoff start. If he falters, yet again, the Yankees need to take a good look at keeping him out of the postseason rotation. I think game 1 of the series will go to the Sox. Unfortunately, the game is on My9 so I won't be watching. Thankfully, it's the last My9 game of the year. Hopefully, next year the My9 games are carried here. It's frustrating not being able to see these games. I'll definitely be following along though.

Saturday features CC versus Dice-K. CC, as we all know, is awesome. He definitely brings it when it gets down to the wire. He'll be going for win #19 and this pretty much makes or breaks his chance for 20 wins. I'm expecting a big game from the big guy. Dice-k has awful #s this year but has pitched well in his 2 starts since coming off the DL. I think this will be his first real test. The Yanks typically do well against him and I see no reason to think they won't again. I think the Yanks will take game 2.

In what hopefully will be their last meeting this year (because the Angels will knock the Sox out in the ALDS,) Andy Pettitte faces off against Paul Byrd. I think the advantage here goes to the Yanks, though not by a large margin. I think it could go either way. Pettitte does well against Boston (career: 17-9, 3.76 ERA . Byrd sometimes gives the Yankee hitters fits. I think this will be a close game with the Yanks edging it out.

I think the Yanks will take 2 of 3 and clinching no worse than a tie for the division, which is still not quite good enough because if they end up tied, they'll lose the division to the Sox via the tie-breaker. The Sox hold the edge this year winning 9 of the 15 games they've played. 1 win gives them the season series. For it to matter though, the Yanks would have to finish 0-6 and the Sox 7-0. Not going to happen. 2 wins this weekend and it's done.

I would love to see the Yanks sweep so they can celebrate while Boston is in town. In this rivalry, it's ideal to directly rub it into the other side's face. Clinching on Monday against the Royals just wouldn't be the same. Don't get me wrong, I'll take it, but I would absolutely love for it to happen on Sunday.

Wednesday, September 23, 2009

I got a text alert from the Yankees an hour or so before the game started. It said that Girardi was keeping A-Rod, Damon, and Swisher out of the lineup. When I read that my first thought was, "Well I hope A.J. is on because it'll be a weak lineup." The offense hasn't exactly shown up when they play in Anaheim. At first I was puzzled as to why Girardi would sit those guys in what I thought was a big game. It wasn't a must win, but it was still important nonetheless, in my opinion anyway. Besides getting one step closer to winning the AL East, the Yankees could get one step closer to wrapping up home field advantage throughout the playoffs. I didn't quite get the move, especially with tomorrow being an off day. Then I read how poorly A-Rod, Damon, and Swisher have performed against Scott Kazmir. The move then made more sense. I still didn't like their chances. With 1/3 of the regular lineup riding the pine, the pitching had to be there. As you all should know by now, it was.

I had my doubts with the wildly inconsistent A.J. Burnett getting the start but he got the job done. He allowed a few too many baserunners for my taste but his 11 Ks neutralized any real threats. A.J. pitched pretty well. 3 of his last 4 starts have been pretty good with one being really bad. Throw out the bad start and we're looking at: 18.2 IP, 18 hits, 9 walks, 17 Ks, and 4 ER (1.93 ERA). Not bad but he needs to bring that WHIP (1.45) down a little bit. Allowing so many baserunners will eventually catch up with you. I'm really hoping Burnett has his stuff together. He's going to be a big part of the team in October. The Yanks need him if they want to go deep into the playoffs.

Big up to the bullpen for pitching 3+ scoreless innings. Marte picked up 2 huge outs. He got Yankee killer ChoneFiggins to fly out with 2 on to end the 6th. He then got himself out of a little jam by getting Bobby Abreu to ground into a 4-6-3 DP. Phil Coke bailed out Albaladejo. That was big. Ian Kennedy even got in on the action. IPK was a little shaky. Scratch that. IPK was a lot shaky. That was scary. Kennedy seems to forget how to have control whenever he pitches at the big league level. 2 walks and a hit-batter. 15 of 28 pitches for strikes. He's got to be better than that. But he didn't allow any runs, so I can't speak to ill about his outing. But like with A.J., allowing too many baserunners will eventually catch up with you. So watch yourself IPK. And what would a 3-2 win be without Mariano Rivera picking up the save? He's the GOAT. 'Nuff said.

As expected with that lineup, there wasn't a lot of scoring. It all came at once with the big knock coming off the bat of Robbie Cano. Robbie may not come through a lot with RISP but his hit today was clutch. He seems to be doing that more and more lately, though still not nearly at the level he needs to. Robbie's buddy Melky came up with the other big hit and I hope that snaps him out of his slump. Melk was in a God-awful 1 for 21 slump before that base knock. He then followed that double with a single in his next AB. Slump over? I hope so.

The win today has to be a huge confidence booster for the Yanks. They finally won a series in Anaheim. I don't remember the last time they did that. The Yanks could very well find themselves playing the Angels in the ALCS. These 2 wins hopefully got that monkey off their back. The win also puts the Yanks one step closer to clinching the division (magic # is 5) and one step closer to clinching HFA throughout the playoffs. Their magic # to clinch HFA over the Angels is 4. They very well could wrap both up this weekend against the Red Sox. The magic # to clinch the East could be as low as 3 by the time the Yanks take the field again. All I can say about that is, go Royals!

Off day tomorrow as the team flies back home. Enjoy it while you can because the real fun is about to start.

I just remembered that today's game is at 3:30. I'm psyched because I'll actually get to follow it. The 1st half on the radio, the 2nd half on TV. I think it would be a huge confidence booster if the Yanks can leave Anaheim with a win. They've struggled there mightily and taking a series there might be the spark that turns that tide. The Angels have been a thorn in the Yankees' side for a long time. It's time to flip the script. A win today is big. The Yanks could very well head back to Anaheim for the ALCS.

Since I didn't see any of last night's game I only have the box score to base any opinions on. I see they blew a 5-run lead and one it with a little small ball. Single, stolen base, sac bunt, sac fly, Mariano for 3. Yanks win. Take that Angels. You got beat at your own game.

Chad Gaudin's line doesn't look too bad. I wouldn't call it a great performance but it certainly wasn't bad. It looks like his pitch count got up there which is probably why he got yanked before the 5th. That and it looked like he was starting to struggle. I still like Gaudin as the team's 4th starter in the playoffs. I have absolutely no confidence in Joba right now. I prefer Aceves to both but i don't think they can stretch him out in time. I'd be fine with them using Ace as a precursor to Phil and Mariano. I don't think it would be a bad idea to use Gaudin as the 4th starter and bring in Joba if needed to pitch in the middle innings. If Joba wants that spot, he needs to earn it and he'll only do that if he pitches better. He's pitching his way right out of the rotation and right now, I say good riddance. He needs to earn his way back into my good graces. Good luck with that.

As expected, the team didn't celebrate after last night's playoff-clinching win. Kudos to them for that. That's a rookie move in my book. They're in the driver's seat for the division. Holding back the party for when that's clinched is a smart move. Hopefully, that happens at home this weekend against Boston. The magic # is 6. If everything goes to plan (Yanks win today and Sox lose today/tomorrow), it'll be 3 come Friday. I'll be happy if it's 4 or less. A magic # of 4 would mean that the Yanks would clinch the division if they take 2 of 3 at home versus Boston, which is a distinct possibility with CC and Pettitte getting 2 of the starts. The Yanks would really need to collapse to lose the division. They have 10 games left and are 5 up in the loss column. If they go .500 the rest of the way, the Sox would have to win out. Crazier things have happened, but this won't be one of them. One the division/HFA is wrapped up, the team should focus on getting ready for the postseason and their series with either the Twins or the Tigers. Give some guys some rest. Set up the rotation. The sooner that happens, the better.

It's the home stretch. Seems like just yesterday the season started, doesn't it? It's hard to believe October is almost here.

Tuesday, September 22, 2009

Thanks to the Red Sox blowing 2 6-run leads, the Yankees magic # dropped to 8. The Yankees failed again to clinch a playoff spot. It's still not a big deal. The team is fine. I don't think there is anything to worry about in terms of them playing in October, or in terms of them having home field advantage. They will win the AL East. Take it to the bank.

I stayed up last night thru the 1st 6 innings. I really wanted to watch Andy Pettitte pitch to see how he did after missing his last start. I don't do well with the west coast games. It's tough to stay up that late when the real world comes calling at 6 in the morning. I'm usually good for the 1st half of the game. I was up a little later than normal as I was watching the end of the Colts/Dolphins game as I had some money riding on it. Color me a winner! Another winner? Andy Pettitte. I thought his return was very positive and just what the Yankees needed. They may not have won the game, but they did come out ahead last night since Andy pitched well and experienced no issues with his wing. AP had a rough 1st inning, which I thought might happen as he was probably shaking off the cobwebs. The back-to-back-to-back hits knocked in the 2 runs. After that, Andy was pretty much on cruise control, retiring 11 straight and then allowing a run in the 5th. His final line: 6 IP, 5 hits, 2 walks, 3 Ks, 3 ER. Not bad, especially after missing some time. I'll take it, especially against the Angels. Too bad he didn't get any run support.

I don't really have a comment on the offense as there wasn't really any. They let the Angels off the hook in the 1st. A-Rod whiffed with 2 on and 1 out. Nick "The Rally Killer" Swisher popped out to end the inning. the last person I want to see up with runners on base is Swisher. Swish is hitting .237 w/RISP and .174 w/RISP w/2 outs. I like him much better at the front end of a rally than at the back end. He can get on base but he can also kill you with his strikeouts. Swish strikes out about 25% of the time. He's not the guy I want up when runs are needed. I'm not sure what sense it makes to bat him 5th in the order. I like him at the bottom myself. If he gets on base, which he does fairly well via walk, the top of the order can move him around the bases and knock him in. I know it's a one-off as they sat Matsui and he usually gets the 5-spot but still, Swisher sucks with runners on. The problem is that the bottom of the order doesn't really knock 'em in with runners on. Cano is hitting around .200 w/RISP. Melky is too streaky and is currently slumping (1 for 19 in last 6 games). The lineup needs Matsui in it.

Why can't these guys beat the Angels? It's mind-blowing how poorly they play against these guys, especially when they play in Anaheim. I know I said yesterday that it doesn't really matter if they win the East or not. Making the playoffs is good enough. While I still subscribe to that line of thinking, I really don't want to face the Angels, in Anaheim, in the ALDS. These guys really need to win the East and finish with the best record. HFA will be huge.

I'm not going to see any of tonight's game as it's on My9. I probably won't even follow along with it since it's a late game. I hope to wake up in the morning and see that the Yanks came out on top. So it shall be. So it shall come to pass. Enjoy the game.

Monday, September 21, 2009

It was a good thing it was Sunday yesterday. I was so disgusted at watching Joba pitch that I had to change the channel. Thank God football was on. I checked in periodically to see if the score had changed and it never did. I wrote yesterday after the 1st inning that it looked like bad Joba was in the house. The 2nd inning confirmed that. He was/is terrible. His ERA is now up to 4.72. Yikes. He's been bad lately. Here's his line over his last 8 starts: 31 IP, 44 hits, 14 walks, 30 ER, and 22 K. His WHIP is 1.87 and his ERA is 8.71. Opponents are hitting .331 against him in those 8 games. You can't be successful in the bigs with numbers like that.

The thing that gets me the most is that Joba doesn't seem to acknowledge his suckinees. I understand being cocky and thinking you're the shizzle, but come on now. Here are some of Joba's comments (from Pete Abe's blog):

“My delivery was great. I threw some great changeups. My slider velocity was great. My fastball velocity was more consistent. … It’s going to take a lot more than this to get my confidence level down, I’ll tell you that much. You can kick me as much as you want but I’m going to come back fighting every time. That’s how I live this life and that’s how I play this game of baseball.”OK. I can understand thinking you had a good game when you didn't if you think that once. But Joba has made similar comments in the past after sub-par outings. WTF? Is Joba's head so far up his rump that he's oblivious to the fact that he's not pitching very well? Joba isn't doing anything to earn a spot in the playoff rotation. If anything, the opposite is happening. If fans know best, and let's face it, we usually do (sarcasm), Joba wouldn't be the team's 4th starter come October. Pete Abe has a poll up asking the question, Who should be the #4 starter in the postseason. Joba is 3rd in votes, behind Chad Gaudin (1st) and Alfredo Aceves (2nd). Aceves got my vote. I'm not sold on Gaudin. I'm not 100% sold on Ace either but i feel better about him than Gaudin. Both would get my vote over Joba. Looks like Jobamania is dying. Maybe it's even on life support.

I have a feeling that Yankee fans out there are starting to sweat the Red Sox. Don't. I still think there's nothing to worry about. I wish I had something magical to say to calm everyone's fears, but I don't. They've definitely got an easy schedule right now. 6 games with the 2 worst teams in the AL. Not a bad time to face those guys. The series this weekend could be pretty big. The Yankees just need to worry about one thing and that's the Yankees. Don't worry about anyone else. I wrote yesterday that the team that the team probably doesn't care if they win the division or not. I'm sure they care a little. As Jason from Heartland Pinstripes pointed out in the comments, it means no ALDS in Anaheim and no ALCS in Fenway. The Yanks are good on the road but they're better at home. They'd obviously love to finish the season atop the AL. He makes a good argument. But at the end of the day, making the playoffs is the main goal. That's pretty much a given at this point. But I really don't think it's anything to worry about. They just need to win their games. Big start tonight for Andy Pettitte. Hope the wing is working.

Sunday, September 20, 2009

The Rangers lost to the Angels 10-5. The Yankees magic # to clinch a playoff spot is now 1, which means a win today, and they're in. They're currently down 2-0 in the first and it looks like bad-Joba is on the hill. Hopefully he settles down and they wrap up the spot today. It'll be good to get it out of the way. As nice as winning the division is, I can guarantee they don't care if they win it or not. You can't win it all if you're not playing. The magic # of 1 means they can do no worse than tie. For that to happen, they'd have to lose all of their remaining games while the Rangers win theirs. That my friends, isn't going to happen.

Saturday, September 19, 2009

I am still a little dumbfounded at how last night's Yankees/Mariners game ended. Had I known it would end that way, I wouldn't have stayed up 2 hours past my bed time to watch it. It was a good game with a terrible ending. The legendary Mariano Rivera blew a save. It happens, but it certainly doesn't happen often. That was his 1st blown save in his last 37 chances. The great thing about Mariano is that the bad outings don't stay with him. That's what makes him one of the best. I thought the game was over. I think the world thought the game was over. 2 pitches changed all of that. It was a rough way to end a long day. But like the great Mariano, it's forgotten, as of.....now.

It was nice to see a good performance from A.J. Burnett. A.J. has been like Dr. Jeckyll and Mr. Hyde this season. You never really know if you'll get the good or the bad. He's in a pattern now where he's good one start and bad the next, then good, then bad, then, well, you get the picture. It's been that way for about 7 starts now. You be the judge:

Aug 17: 8 IP, 6 hits, 3 ER = good

Aug 22: 5 IP, 9 hits, 9 ER = bad

Aug 27: 6 IP, 2 hits, 3 ER = good

Sept 1: 5.1 IP, 11 hits, 6 ER = bad

Sept 7: 6 IP, 4 hits, 1 ER = good

Sept 12: 7 IP, 7 hits, 6 ER = bad (though good for 6 IP)

Sept 18: 7 IP, 7 hits, 1 ER = good

See what I mean? Andy Pettitte was doing the same thing earlier in the season if I remember correctly. The Yanks need A.J. to be on come the playoffs. I'm not sure what to expect.

I was talking to some friends and fellow Yankees fans recently. The consensus seems to be that the Yankees are floundering a little bit right now. It might seem that way, but they're not. They're playing good baseball. The things that's mixing people up is that the Red Sox are playing better ball. The Yankees just wrapped up a 10 game homestand that saw them go 7-3, including winning 3 of the last 4. The Red Sox in that time-span rattled off 7 straight wins with only 1 loss. They shaved a few games off the Yankees lead but it's nothing to be concerned about. If you're really worried about the Sox catching the Yanks, you shouldn't be. If you need some added reassurance, check out this post that Steve over at Was Watching penned today. Also, if you're a worrier, keep in mind that the main objective is to make it to the postseason. The Yankees magic # to clinch a playoff spot is 3. There are 12 games left. There's no chance that the Yankees don't win at least 3 games and there's no chance that Texas only loses twice if the Yankees happen to totally fall apart. Losing the AL East wouldn't be the end of the world. Not by a long shot. There will be October baseball in the Bronx.

Wednesday, September 16, 2009

Thank you Jorge Posothead. Your stupidity has paid off. If Posada wasn't serving a 3 game suspension, Francisco Cervelli wouldn't have been in the ballgame. If Cervelli wasn't in the ballgame, maybe the Yanks don't win this game. Who knows? What's done is done. It is what it is. And what it is, is a 5-4 Yankee walkoff victory. That was a classic ending. I absolutely loved Cervelli's reaction. I loved how excited he looked sprinting to first base. I loved how he turned first and kept running. I love the arms raised in triumph reaction he had to the pie in the face. The kid has great energy. I'm looking forward to seeing him grow within the organization. I love the kid.

Before I move on to the game itself, I wanted to talk a little bit more about Posada. He was originally fined 4 games, which in my opinion, was far less than I expected. Most pitchers get 6 games (reduced to 5 after appeal) for allegedly throwing at a guy. Posada incited a brawl and got 4 games. He got off easy, especially since they dropped the suspension to 3 games since he didn't appeal. Jorge would have missed today's game anyway because he had a stiff neck, which was from his role in the melee. He's lucky that's all that happened. I mentioned earlier that I thought someone was in a bench-clearing brawl and ended up getting hurt and missing the season. I couldn't remember who it was when I wrote the post but I remembered it later on. It was Red Sox pitcher Bill Lee. He was in a BCB with the Yanks and ended up missing the season because he got hurt. Point is, things can happen. I like seeing the fire and the team standing up for each other, but there's a time for it. When you're the best team in MLB, that time isn't with 3 weeks left in the season. Jorge should know better. now back to your regularly scheduled programming.....

Chad Gaudin pitched better than I thought he would. I thought he was going to get rocked. I'm very pleased with his outing. If I'm running things, I put Gaudin in the 5th spot over Sergio Mitre. I don't prefer either one really, but if my choice is Gaudin or Mitre, I'm taking Gaudin. He's been the better pitcher.

Props to the bullpen for shutting things down. Except for Brian Bruney. Bruney has actually been decent lately. He had a 0.87 ERA in August and until tonight, he had a 2.45 ERA in September. I can see why Girardi went to him but Bruney makes me nervous every time he pitches. I don't like that. Phil Hughes on the other hand? Hakunamatata my friends. Hakunamatata. It was an impressive 1-2-2 8th for Phil. Hughes has been great as a reliever. I'd argue that he and Mariano Rivera might just be the best back-of-the-bullpen tandem in the game right now. If you disagree, let me know.

Big night again for HidekiMatsui. Godzilla had the big knock in the 8th. He picked up 3 RBI tonight and that brings his September ribbie total to 13. 13 RBI in 13 games. Not bad. I had a good feeling about the game as soon as Brett Gardner reached base in the 9th. You just knew he was stealing 2nd. It wasn't a question of if. It was a question of when. I really wanted to see Jeter drive him home. I really want to see the Captain take a pie to the face. Part of me wonders if A.J. would be scared to do it. It is Derek Jeter after all. But you know he'd do it. He'd have to. I hope we see it before the year is out. It was their 14thwalkoff win of the year and that leads MLB. You can never count this team out. They've won 94 games for a reason.

Not sure if anyone out there caught the end of the Sox/Angels game. What a travesty! That was some horrible umpiring right there. First of all Nick Green went around. He knew it. the Angels knew it. Everyone knew it. Except the umpires. A few pitches later, Green channeled his inner Carlos Beltran and watched strike 3. The ump though, for reasons unbeknownst to everyone, called the pitch ball four which forced in the tying run. It was a horrendous call. I was watching the MLB Network's coverage of it and the entire in-studio crew thought it was strike 3. The umps handed that game to the Red Sox on a silver platter. Whatever.

The Yankee win drops the magic # to 11. The Rangers lost so the magic # for a playoff spot is down to 4. I think it's safe to say they've got a playoff spot wrapped up. The team has an off day tomorrow and the action resumes Friday night out in Seattle. The win tonight should definitely make the off day and the flight much more enjoyable. I know it will for me. Enjoy the off day.

I caught the highlights, or should I say lowlights, of last night's loss to the Blue Jays this morning. I really want to know what Jorge Posada was thinking when he threw a little shimmy on Jesse Carlson after he scored. I really thought Jorge was smarter than that. I've always thought of him as a little hot-headed but level-headed at the same time. Maybe he's not as level-headed as I thought. He let his emotions get the best of him and he needs to check himself before he wrecks himself and the team.

There's a time and a place for what Jorge did and it's not when there's 2 weeks left in the season and you're in the middle of a playoff run. You run the risk of getting your teammates hurt. You never know what's going to happen when teams lock up in a scrum. The replay showed Carlson with a nice lump on his dome (Shelley Duncan maybe?). Girardi it looked like had a puffy eye. People get hurt when BCBs happen. It's a good thing nobody did in this case. Wasn't there a guy a year or two ago who got hurt in a BCB and missed the rest of the season? His name escapes me but I'm pretty sure it happened. Anybody know?

Without question, Jorge is going to be suspended for this. I'm guessing it will be a 6 game suspension, which will be appealed and dropped to 5 games. The question is will Posada and the Yankees draw out the appeal process and somehow drag it out so it takes place next year. i have mixed feelings on that. I'd like to see Jorge man up and bite the bullet but at the same time I don't want the team to be impacted on the stretch run. I can see him dropping his appeal as soon as they've clinched a spot or maybe when they clinch home-field advantage. I guess we'll find out soon.

I hope this doesn't come back to bite the team in the ass. It was a stupid thing to do and I hope Jorge checks himself the next time he's in this situation. The last thing i want to see happen is they lose HFA or the AL EAst crown because Jorge is riding the pine. I think the lead is big enough that they'll be OK, but crazier things have happened.

Tuesday, September 15, 2009

I would just like to again thanks the local TV stations here in Buffalo for not carrying the My9 games. I absolutely hate when the games aren't on here. Nothing beats watching Yankee baseball. According to the schedule there are 2 more My9 games. Of course they're 2 big games. One is with the Angels, the other the Red Sox. Yay Buffalo TV!

I blogged earlier that this would probably be a good game to miss because the Halladay/Mitre matchup was such a mismatch. Based on the score and their pitching lines, I'd say I was right. I would have been terribly frustrated as it looks like the Yankees had ample opportunity to score. If you asked me before the game to predict the Yankees run total on 15 hits and 3 walks, I'd probably guess around. They managed 4. What gives? They were 5 for 16 with RISP which isn't terrible so I'm assuming that they didn't get the hits when they really needed them. Regardless, they gave up 10 runs so it probably wouldn't have been enough anyway. I'm not too concerned about the runs they gave up as the chance that any of those pitchers (Mitre, Dunn, Melancon, and Ramirez) see action in the postseason is slim and none.

I got a text alert that I missed a bench clearing brawl between Posada and Jesse Carlson. I would have loved to have seen that. I was hoping to see some highlights of it but the MLB Network was showing the Giants/Rockies game so I didn't even check. I'm curious to see what that was all about.

The Red Sox won so the Yanks didn't get any closer to clinching the AL East. The Rangers are down 5 in the 8th and if that lead holds up the magic # to clinch a playoff spot drops to 6. Today was a throwaway game if you ask me. The loss is nothing to be concerned about. I am a little concerned about Andy Pettitte and his fatigued shoulder. The Yanks are going to skip his start and push him back to Monday. I'd feel a little better about this if we weren't so close to the finish line. The Yankee brain trust seems to think he'll be fine and I'm hoping they're right. Chad Gaudin will start in his place and will face Brian Tallet. It's a winnable game, even with Gaudin on the hill. He's probably going to need some run support. Fingers crossed they give it to him.

It looks like MLB released the tentative schedules for next year. Here is a link to the Yankees' 2010 schedule. I've looked it over and I have mixed reviews. Here's a quick little breakdown:

April is going to be a tough month. They open on the road in Boston and then head to Tampa before returning home for the 1st homestand, which is against the Angels and Rangers. So right off the bat they're facing their 2 toughest AL East opponents and they're following it up with the constant thorn in their side and a playoff contender. Wait, it gets better. After the homestand, they fly out to the west coast to take on the A's and the Angels, and then head back East to close out the month in Baltimore. 15 of their 22 games are on the road. Not a fun way to start the season.

May looks like a pretty tough month as well. Things get real fun after the first homestand of the month. The team plays 17 straight days from May 7-May 23. It starts with 3 games in Boston, followed by 4 in Detroit, back home for 3 against the Twins, and then 2 games each against the Red Sox and Rays. The stretch closes with 3 in Citi Field versus the Mets. That should be a pretty tough stretch.

June looks much easier in terms of the competition. A home-and-home with the Orioles with a trip to Toronto in the middle. Interleagueplay brings the Astros, Phillies and Mets to town. IP closes with another trip out west to face the Diamondbacks and the Dodgers.

If they fall behind anyone, they should be able to make things up in July. Their first 13 games of the month, if you include the last 2 in June, are against the Mariners, A's and Seattle. Unfortunately, their series with Oakland and Seattle will be out west, making it the Yankees 3rd west coast trip in as many months. After the ASB, they're home versus the Rays, Angels, and Royals. The month closes with a roadie to Cleveland and Tampa Bay. Maybe it's not as easy a month as I thought.

August features a 20 game span without any breaks. It's a mixture of good (Red Sox, Tigers, Rangers) and bad (Royals, Mariners, Blue Jays). It could be better. It could be worse. No west coast trips, but they have to go to Texas (for 2 games), which is a haul in itself.

September is pretty much versus the AL East, with the exception of going to Texas for another 3 games. Their final homestand is against the Rays and Red Sox. They close the season out with 3 in Toronto, then 3 in Fenway. so they open and close in Boston. Seems fair.

Now that I've typed it all out, it seems like a rough schedule. 3 west coast trips and 2 trips to Texas. Seems like a lot of long trips. I took a look at the Red Sox schedule and it looks to be a little easier. Not much but a little. Their longest trip in April is to Minnesota/Kansas City. 13 of their 23 games are at home. They don't really travel anywhere in May. Their furthest road trip is probably to Tampa. Their first west coast trip is in mid-June for interleague play. July will be a tough month for the Sox. They play 16 of their 25 games on the road and open up the 2nd half at home vs. Texas and then head right to Oakland for 10 straight on the west coast. Their big trip in August sends them to Texas. September features their 3rd and final west coast trip, which is 6 games (Oakland/Seattle). They finish at home against the Yanks.

I'm not too concerned about the schedule. Things always find a way to balance out and the cream usually rises to the top. If the team is good enough to win, they'll win regardless of where they are and when they play. I also don't want to dwell too much on it. We are after all still in 2009 and it's looking like postseason baseball is returning to the Bronx. Let's enjoy it and worry about 2010 after it's all said and done.

Yesterday's 5-3 W over the Halos put the Yankees one step closer to the playoffs and one step closer to clinching home-field advantage. The win put the Yankees lead over the Angels at 6 games (5 in loss column) with 17 to play. It was a pretty big win as having HFA throughout the playoffs is a pretty big deal, especially when you're one of the best teams at home. I'd like to say the Yanks are the best home club in MLB but their 51-22 home record (.699) is just behind Boston's 50-21 record (.704). In all likelihood, the Yankees are going to meet up with Texas (.500 winning percentage on road) or Detroit (.417 winning percentage on road) in the 1st round of the playoffs. They're not exactly road warriors. The 2nd round will likely be a matchup against the Angels (.583 winning percentage on road) or Boston (.479 winning percentage on road). HFA will be key to the playoff run. But you've got to get there first. The win puts the magic # to clinch the AL East at 12. The magic # to clinch a playoff spot is 7. The magic # to clinch HF from the Angels is 13. 17 games to go. It's hard to believe it's almost October.

I didn't see much of the game last night. I fell asleep right after Teixeira tripled to give the Yanks a 3-2 lead. Not a bad night for Mark as he went 3-4 with 2 RBI. He now has an 8 RBI lead on Evan Longoria for the most in the AL. He still needs 4 HRs to catch Carlos Pena. I'm thinking that he's not going to catch him. The rest of the production came from Robbie Cano and Nick Swisher. Nicky Swish has been on a tear lately. So has Cano for that matter. Swish has been on fire since the tail end of August. Since 8/29, a span of 15 games, Swish is batting .345 (20-58) w/6 HR and 12 RBI. Color me impressed. The "Rally Killer" has been pretty good lately. Cano has had a pretty good stretch too. Since 8/22, a span of 23 games, RC is hitting .363 (33-91) with 16 ribbies. I love Cano. If you do too, you might want to check out eBay and do a search for "Cano game used." His agent usually has some of his game-used sweatbands for sale. You can usually get the pair for $35 or so, which if you ask me is a kick-ass deal. If you're into memorabilia like I am, give it a look.

What do you know? Joba has put together 2 decent starts in a row. He's been getting it done ever since Jeter talked to him on the mound against the Rays. JC's line in his last 2 starts: 7 IP, 7 hits, 3 ER, 1 BB, 5 K, and 2 HR. Hopefully, Joba has got his act back together and can pitch better on a more consistent basis. He's going to be needed for the playoff run. CC and Pettitte look to be solid. Burnett and Joba are scuffling. They need at least 3 of them to be rolling if they want to go deep into the playoffs. Hopefully Joba has turned the corner. Again.

Tonight's game is on My9 which means no Yankee baseball for me. It's Sergio mitre vs. Roy Halladay. This game has mismatch written all over it. It might not be a bad one to miss. We'll see. Hopefully they can take it to Doc and move one (or two) steps closer to clinching. Enjoy the game.

Sunday, September 13, 2009

It's hard to believe that the Yankees started their 3 best pitchers, at home, against one of the worst teams in baseball and managed to escape with only 1 win in 3 games. That's not what you want to see this late in the game. Andy Pettitte left with the lead but didn't exactly pitch a good ball game. It wasn't bad, but there was a lot to be desired. For starters, Andy has to be more effective with his pitches. Only 59 of his 103 pitches were strikes, which is about 57% of his pitches. I like to see a pitcher throw at least 60% of his pitches for strikes. I know the difference between 57% and 60% is only 2 or 3 pitches, but those pitches could end up being game changers. 103 pitches is definitely way too many pitches to throw in 5 innings. I'd expect that from Joba, but not from Andy. But it happens. As long as it doesn't happen all the time, we're good.

A.J. Burnett's performance wasn't bad if you throw out the 2nd inning. Unfortunately, the 2nd inning is part of the game, so if you look at the outing as a whole, he was awful. A.J. has been pretty inconsistent this season. He started out rough, pitched well in the middle of the season, and has been rough down the stretch. He's basically what he was in Toronto and in Florida, a .500 or so pitcher. A.J. can dominate but at the same time he can stink up the joint. It's hard to blame this on Posada now too. I originally thought maybe that was part of the problem but A.J. has been bad with Molina too, so it's all on Burnett. He's got to get the job done and he needs to do it more consistently. Like we saw yesterday, one bad inning can kill you. 5 of the 7 hits he allowed came in the 2nd inning. He was pretty good in innings 3-7, allowing only a hit and a walk. I hope he figures it out.

CC was dope as usual. If there is one pitcher that the Yankees can count on it's CC. He's been the man. He pitched really well today, allowing 3 runs, which should have been only 2 if not for Johnny Damon's boneheaded play. It's a shame CC got knocked for an earned run on that play. I was a little surprised that he only whiffed 1 Oriole today. The more I think about it, the more startled I am by it. It doesn't happen that often. He picked up his league leading 17th win today. He probably has 3 starts left, maybe 4 depending on how the Yankees try to set up the rotation for the postseason. 20 wins is possible, especially if he pitches like he has been. He's 7-0 with a 2.48 ERA in his last 9 starts. He's been worth every penny. He has the rep for not pitching well in the postseason so hopefully he earns that money in October.

The Yankee hit king's slump seems to be over. Since his bunt single 4 games ago, he's 9-18. That's why he's the hit king. A-Rod had a pretty decent series. Alex went 4-9 with 2 2B and a homer. His average is now sitting at .287. I'm telling you, Alex is going to flirt with .300. He's hitting .429 in September. He's rocking a 7 game hit streak, going 12-24 in those 7 games. It's good to have you back A-Rod. It certainly isn't hurting that Matsui is also locked in. Matsui is hitting .382 this month, with 9 RBI in 10 games. He had a great game today, knocking in 5. Matsui has surprised me the year. I didn't really think he was going to do much. He's got an outside chance at knocking in 100 runs. It's a long shot but if he keeps it up, he could get there. The offense as a whole has been doing pretty well this month. They've scored the most runs (72) in the AL. They have the 3rd highest batting average (.293), the highest OBP (.374), and the 4th highest slugging percentage (.459). Not too shabby. There's definitely some room for improvement, namely from Mark Teixeira. He's only hitting .267 this month. He typically starts slow and finishes hot. I'd like to see a little more from the 3 hitter. Then again, who wouldn't?

There are a mere 18 games left this season. The Yanks are sitting on a 7 game lead, (6 up in the loss column). No lead is safe but they'd have to have a collapse of Mets' like proportions to mess this one up. The magic # to clinch the East is 13 and the magic # to clinch a playoff spot is 10, and could be 9 if the Rangers lose tonight. Even if they go .500 the rest of the way they'd still make it. The Rangers would have to run the table and sorry, but that ain't happening. It's a pretty safe bet that October baseball is returning to the Bronx. They've got a kind of important game tomorrow against the Angels. The Halos currently have the 2nd best AL Record and are 5 games behind the Yanks (4 in loss column). It's important to win this game (and the 3 others next week) as it'll likely determine which team has home-field advantage throughout the playoffs. The Yankees have an AL-high 52 home wins (tied with Red Sox). Home-field advantage would be huge. Then again, they also have an AL-high 42 road wins, so they're looking good either way.

Speaking of looking good, my bed is looking good right about now. I got about 4 hours of sleep Friday night. Last night I went to bed at 10:30, expecting my 2-year old to wake up at about 6:30 and he wakes up at 4:15. I'm hoping he sleeps a little longer tonight. Wish me luck.

Friday, September 11, 2009

Ladies and gentleman, history was made today. Derek Jeter is the now the all-time Yankees hit leader. I feel very proud of Derek and I'm honored that I've been witness to his entire career. It's been special from the get-go and it's far from over. It was pretty cool to see his teammates leave the dugout to celebrate with him at first base. I was wondering what kind of "celebration" might go down. I don't think it could have gone any better. And the 2+ minute standing ovation was well-deserved. That could have gone on for hours. I especially liked the Der-ekJe-ter chants that broke out during A-Rod's at-bat. He'll never admit it, but you know Alex is very jealous of Derek. He'll never have what Derek has. That has to eat him up.

Within minutes of him passing Gehrig, I had an e-mail from the Yankees about Jeter breaking the record. George Steinbrenner released a statement. Steiner Sports sent an e-mail advertising their "Record Breaking Hit Collection." They're selling "Derek Jeter Hit Leader" t-shirts at the stadium. Kind of weird how quickly it all went down, but still cool. It's a Derek Jeter love-fest tonight. And it should be.

I'll admit it. I got a little misty eyed after the hit. It was a very special moment and I just couldn't help it. No tears, but I had that feeling inside that I was about to shed a few. It was a great moment.

Celebrities For Charity is raffling off two premium seats to the Sox/Yankees game at the new Yankee Stadium on September 26, 2009. The seats are right behind home plate and are in section 105. The winner also gets a $500.00 travel voucher as well as $100.00 for meals and other expenses. Proceeds from the raffle go to charity and tickets start at just $2.00 a piece with a minimum purchase of 5 tickets. For further information regarding the raffle, as well as ticket purchases visit: https://www.celebritiesforcharity.org/raffles/alphaomega_sox.cfmEntry deadline for the raffle is September 23, 2009 @ 11:00am EDT

Wednesday, September 9, 2009

Frickin' Grant Balfour. You just had to walk Derek Jeter. Aargh. I want to fight him right about now. I know he'd beat me into submission in all of about 3 seconds but it's the prinicpality of it Smokey. We were on the verge of an instant 'Yankees Classic.' Thanks to Grant Balfour, history isn't happening tonight. I really thought the stars were aligning for Jeter to break Lou Gehrig's record tonight. It was beginning to look like a Jeterwalkoff was in the cards but alas it wasn't meant to be. Now Jeter will have to wait until another game to break Gehrig's all-time hit record. My buddy Tom sent me a text right after the walk that said, "looks like Derek will pass Gehrig's on 9/11." That would be kind of cool I guess.

What I thought was especially cool was seeing Jeter pick up hit #1 with a bunt single. I didn't see that coming. I don't think anybody did, especially the Rays. Not a bad way to break an 0-12 slump. Also not a bad way to relieve a little pressure. I'm sure Jeter was feeling it a little bit. It was a pretty cool sight to see the love he got from the crowd when he tied the record. Imagine what will happen when he breaks it. Man, I wish I could be there.

The game itself was a pretty good one. When I turned it on the Yanks were down 2-0 and the Rays had 2 on with 2 out in the 1st. I was preparing myself to write a post about Joba and how he's pitching his way right out of the Yankees rotation. But he settled down and his next 2 innings pretty much set the tone for the rest of the night. The Rays scored 3 runs on 3 hits in the 1st and didn't do anything else the rest of the way. They managed 2 walks. That's it. The pitching tonight definitely got lost in the hoopla surrounding Derek Jeter. A lot of credit needs to be thrown the bullpen's way for this victory. They definitely took care of business. I was a little nervous there in the 9th. I think it's safe to say that no Yankee fan wants to see Brian Bruney and Phil Coke closing games. Scary stuff.

Not much to get all excited about offensively, outside of Jeter's night anyway. I don't know what Joe Maddon was thinking in the 8th inning. Every move he made pretty much blew up in his face. The key point of the inning was when Nick "The Rally Killer" Swisher almost killed the rally by grounding into a 3-6-3 DP. Lucky for him, the Rays' first baseman threw the ball away. I threw a pillow at the TV when Richard fielded his grounder. Swish got away with one there. A-Rod picked up another 2 hits. I'm telling you, Alex is going to flirt with a .300 average. Alex was hitting .254 back on August 15th. 16 games later and he's got it up to a season-high .283. Alex is hitting .424 (28-66) over those 16 games. He's getting locked in. Now Teixeira just needs to get back in a consistent groove.

How can anyone dislike Derek Jeter? I can understand not liking the Yankees but if you're a baseball fan, how can you knock him? He exhibits class all the way. He gets it. I just got done watching his post game press conference and I can't help but like him more than I already do. I didn't think that was possible but I guess it is. I'm glad I've been there every step of the way. It's been an awesome ride and it's only going to get better. Next stop: Pete Rose. All aboard.

Tuesday, September 8, 2009

Man, I wish I got to see the game tonight. Thanks again My9. I was watching the MLB Network and as soon as they cut in to show Swisher's AB and it didn't say "Live" in the corner, I knew he won it. It kind of took away from my excitement, but it was awesome nonetheless. I guess I should kind of apologize to Nicky Swish for calling him "The Rally Killer." But I guess there's a difference between killing a rally and starting one, so it'll be a half an apology. He got the job done tonight that's for sure. He went deep twice. For some odd reason Swisher hasn't hit a lot of HRs in the new stadium. That wasn't the case tonight. Nicky Swish coming through. I wonder how that pie tasted.

I see Phil Hughes gave up a run. I guess he is human after all. No worries.

Derek Jeter went hitless again. I'm interested to see if he has any thoughts on his little drought. I wonder if the pressure is getting to him. I wouldn't think so as he doesn't seem like the type to be bothered by it, but who knows? It looks like he had an awful night at the plate, going 0-4 with 3 Ks. He's now hitless in his last 12 ABs. I took a quick scan through the game logs and it's the 1st time all year Derek has gone hitless in 3 straight games. I like to think that slumping right when he's about to break the all-time Yankees hit record is purely a coincidence. I imagine though he feels a little pressure as everyone expects him to do it at home. I'll definitely be scanning the blogs tomorrow to see if he made comment on it.

Big up to Chad Gaudin on what looks like a really solid outing.

It definitely doesn't look like the prettiest win but it still ends up in the win column so who cares how it's done. It's nice to be held to 5 hits and still win. The win puts the Yankees at a season-high 40 games over .500, at a record of 90-50. Even if they go .500 the rest of the way, they'll win 101 ball games. That's pretty impressive considering the division they play in. The magic # to clinch the AL East is now 15. I don't want to get ahead of myself but it's all but a given. Joba goes tomorrow night so who knows what to expect. Joba has been pretty bad lately. He's 0-3 in his last 5 starts. He's gone 21 inning, allowing 31 hits, 10 walks and 19 earned runs. Allow me to do the math. That's an ERA of 8.14. That my friends, is awful.

The Yanks took it to the Rays yesterday. It was pretty much a death blow. Not that the Rays had much of a chance anyway, but losing two to the division leader while losing your best slugger for the season is pretty much a death sentence when it's this late in the game. Have a fun offseason.

The Yankees pitching was bombastic yesterday. CC was golden as expected. Too bad he didn't pick up the W. I want to see him win 20. A.J. was pretty solid in the nightcap. The 2 combined to throw 13 innings allowing only 2 runs on 7 hits and 7 walks. They whiffed an impressive 18. There's been a lot of chatter lately about the Yankees pitching staff and how will it shape up come October. There's a lot of worry after CC and Andy Pettitte, largely because A.J. Burnett has been inconsistent lately. Let's hope he builds off yesterday's start because if we can get a hot A.J. in with a hot CC and hot Pettitte, October should be pretty fun.

All eyes were on Derek Jeter yesterday. The Captain needs 3 hits to tie Lou Gehrig for the most hits as a Yankee. Jeter has a couple of good swings but ended up going 0-8. i don't think anyone saw that coming. He'll bounce back and he'll do it quickly. I am sure he wants to get this over and done with so he can focus on his main objective, winning ball games. I am sure it's kind of a distraction. A lot of players seem to take longer than expected when reaching a milestone is on the line. It took a-Rod a few ABs to hit #500. It took Clemens a few tries to win #300. Not sure why that happens, but it always seems to.

A-Rod is starting to look a lot more like A-Rod nowadays. His 3 hits yesterday raised his average to .282, the highest it's been all season, if you don't count going 1 for 3 in his first 3 ABs. You can tell Alex is getting locked in because a lot of his hits are right up the middle or to right-center. It's a long shot but I wouldn't be surprised if Alex gets his average to .300 before he season is done. I think Alex is going to have to get some consideration for the MVP. I know a lot of the talk is about Jeter and Teixeira, but Alex deserves some of the love. The team took off once he returned. Having him in the lineup triggered Teixeira's surge. And his numbers aren't all that bad if you consider he missed 28 games. I hope he gets shown some love. He deserves it in my opinion.

Mark Teixeira has been slumping a little lately but busted out of it in a big way last night, going 3-4 with a double and 2 jacks. It was good to see him send a few "Teix-messages." With Carlos Pena going down for the season, Teixeira has a good shot at pulling off 2/3 of the triple crown. He currently leads the league in RBI with 106, and his 35 HRs are 4 behind the leader Pena. He could very well pull that off. Not bad Teix. Not bad.

My lunch is winding down so I've got to boogie. Tonight's game is on My9 so I won't get to see it. I will be following along though. I'm sure the MLB Network will be breaking in whenever Jeter is at the plate. Also, if you've sent me an e-mail in the last few days, I will be getting to it. With the time away I'm a little behind and I'll do my best to catch up tonight. Enjoy the game.